Studio Brief Three - Looking Into Manifestos

As we were tasked with coming up with our own manifesto, I wanted to try and get a bettr understanding of Manifesto's and the idea of them. I came across a really good post from Craig Stroupe, associate professor at the University of Minnesota.

His piece revolves around the book 'Heuretics: The Logic of Invention' by Gregory L. Ulmer, in which he deconstructs the idea of a manifesto.

Theory of a Manifesto: CaTTt - https://www.d.umn.edu/~cstroupe/ideas/cattt.html
Heuretics: The Logic of Invention, Gregory L. Ulmer, 1994 - https://books.google.co.uk/books/about/Heuretics.html?id=04FlaDjs40cC&redir_esc=y


In the book, Ulmer explains how a manifesto is a cry for change, an attack on a current view, practice or way of being and ultimately a statement for people not just to listen to, but to take part in.

The post by Stroupe talks about the method of a manifesto summarised by Ulmer's Acronym CaTTt, breaking it down and analysing each component.

CaTTt:

C = Contrast (opposition, inversion, differentiation)
A = Analogy (figuration, displacement)T = Theory (repetition, literalization)T = Target (application, purpose)t = Tale (secondary elaboration, representability)

Contrast: 

It helps if the a revolutionary manifesto has a contrasting, long standing ethos to argue against. Used as a starting point for the manifesto, the contrasting opinion or point is one that will allow the manifesto to push itself away from it.

Analogy:

A comparison to another field, practice or example that will help to better understand the nature and intention of the manifesto.

Theory:

Despite the manifesto usually having the intention of being revolutionary, having a theory that supports your manifesto literally rather than just figuratively.

Target:

Who is the manifesto aimed at, the people, the sector, the movement, the area, the lifestyle etc, who are you trying to address.

Tale:

Where does this manifesto reside, a platform, a practice, and area atc, "Without Tale, our manifesto is just an attitude.


Maybe my manifesto should implement some of this same structure, for its validity. It doesn't necessarily have to directly address certain people places or sectors, but have the idea and be informed by those aims.